In-Class Questions and Answers

1The Aquatic Uncle

11.    Are there any prominent symbols in the story? If so, what are they? And how are they used?

I think the symbols in this story are obscured as the vague descriptions of what the characters actually are. We see symbols that are made through anatomy. I think fins and paws are the best examples of this. With basically nothing to go on in terms of imagery, the story is largely built in our mind and we are all probably picturing the characters in different ways; and this doesn’t matter because the story is mainly about the character’s struggles as an evolving species and not their appearance as a species. These anatomical symbols are used, in my interpretation, as ways to explain evolution and the eventual gap between humans and the natural world. As the story moves forward, we even begin to feel a certain disgust for Uncle’s tail as it whips through the water.

22.    What connections did you make with the story? Discuss the elements of the work with which you were able to connect.

I made a connection with the story through the familial interactions between Uncle and his relatives. I think the conversations they have together are pseudo-realistic in terms of reactions and anger, and the only thing that changes is the subject matter. We all know an “uncle,” or someone who refuses to conform (or evolve) to the point of ignorance. In many ways, the dichotomy of the story is what makes me as a reader connect with it. Is it really so bad to want to live as a fish? The stigma against water dwelling in the beginning and middle of the story reflects a lot of our civil disagreements today. Something else I connected with was the last paragraph in particular. The way the protagonist (with his name, and all the names for that matter, which are terribly hard to pronounce) basically said he refused to be like any of them, the creatures who had specifically evolved. Even though he wasn’t the superior animal, he was who he wanted to be. In many ways, he adopted his Uncle’s attitude by the end of the story.

33.    What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you use? What changes would you make?

I would choose to make this into a comic book. The obvious changes to be made would be visually physical descriptions of characters. The story as it is doesn’t describe the characters beyond the symbols of their paws and fins and tails, which can be applied to most animals on earth today. I would love to illustrate something that has such a wide array of characters that can be designed to so many different means. Other than the visual changes that would be made, in terms of telling the story through a comic, I would add a lot more of the “action” scenes, or the scenes where characters are evolving and running through the trees and climbing up them. There could be a lot of stunning visuals both in the water and on the land that can make the reader feel the struggle between evolution and stagnancy. Something that ends so abruptly and so openly could also lend itself artistically, and the ending would definitely be something I keep exactly the same.

Steampunk

The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers has been one of my favorite pieces we've looked at in this class so far. Being a giant fantasy fan, this came as a rather pleasant surprise. In many ways, however, this story reflects some low-key fantasy elements; such as 'magic' and monsters. They feel different, but they serve the same purpose in my mind's eye. This story specifically dealt with some really cool storylines and themes. There are a whole bunch of layers in this novel, and not one of them is uninteresting. The origin of the stories multiple time lines comes from the magicians attempting to bring Anubis through a gate to reclaim their land for them. The failed procedure leaves time gates throughout history. When the gates are found by J. Cochran Darrow, he discovers he can travel through time using them. The alternating timelines are really cool in this story, but I think the most powerful parts in The Anubis Gates are the characters themselves. They all have ulterior motives and really contrasting personalities. I think it is the treatment of the characters that hold the stories complicated events together. The book lends itself readily to the understanding of cultures and the complicated interactions between them in a very unique way. The stories entertain, but also inform and communicate principles to the reader.
I have never read a steampunk story before, but this one certainly grabbed me and I look forward to exploring more like this one.